New Big-Nosed Ceratops Discovered in Texas

Yet another new species of horn-faced, frill-fringed dinosaur known as a ceratopsid has been revealed in the American West, this time in the ancient sediments of Texas’ Big Bend National Park, just weeks after a similar, older horned dino — perhaps the Texan’s deep ancestor — was identified.

The giant herbivore that has emerged from Big Bend’s silstone bears some rather distinctive features — like an elongated snout; meter-long horns erupting above the eyes; and a flowing, flashy frill with gaping holes.

Paleontologists Steven L. Wick and Thomas M. Lehman — from the U.S. National Park Service and Texas Tech, respectively — identified the creature after discovering pieces of its ponderous, 2.1-meter-long skull while doing field work in Big Bend two years ago.

Skulls are often all that remain of ceratopsids — some scientists believe it’s because predators like Tyrannosaurus rex ate them whole, except for their spiky heads.

The Big Bend specimen constitutes a whole new genus and species, the paleontologists say in their report, published in the journal Naturwissenschaften: The Science of Nature.

Probably weighing in around 6,800 kilograms, the dino was among the largest of the chasmosaurs — the large-frilled variety of ceratopsid whose most famous members include the genus Triceratops.